November 3, 2017 9:24am EDTNovember 3, 2017 9:24am EDTBrock Osweiler is back where he began in the NFL: starting for the Broncos. Three teams have had a piece of him since March, but did any of them benefit?Brock Osweiler with Broncos, Browns, Texans(Getty Images)

How a quarterback the caliber of Brock Osweiler tangled up the operations of three NFL franchises — one of them twice — is anyone's guess, but here we are.

Five years after being drafted by the Broncos in the second round to sit behind Peyton Manning, Osweiler is starting for Denver again Sunday in Philadelphia. In between, he has been on the Texans and Browns, with the Broncos being his third home in eight months. His performances have been consistently awful, yet if the Broncos get back on track with him this season, he could be in the playoffs for the third straight year.

Between all the signings, trades, releases and re-signings, who won their Osweiler-related transactions, who lost and who broke even? As Osweiler begins Act 2 of his Broncos career, here's the scoreboard, in reverse chronological order.

Broncos, Part 2 (September 2017-present)

Denver signed Osweiler as a free agent in September 2017. So far, without having played yet, his popularity is at an all-time high because compared to ineffective starter Trevor Siemian and injured Paxton Lynch, he looks good. Plus, the Broncos are only paying him the league minimum of $775,000.

Win, Loss or Tie: Tie. Financially it's a win, but John Elway, who has barely made a wrong move at any other position, has made a mess of the most important one since Manning's retirement after the 2015 Super Bowl run.

Browns (March 2017-September 2017)

Cleveland acquired Osweiler along with a 2017 fourth-round pick from the Texans in March for a 2017 sixth-rounder and a 2018 second-rounder. The Browns released him in September. This was the Browns' vaunted "Moneyball" move: They used their bountiful cap space to absorb his $16 million salary and get a prized future pick from the Texans to take him off their hands. The move looked brilliant until he actually started playing — to put it kindly, the Browns fell in love with rookie DeShone Kizer after two preseason games of Osweiler.

Texans (March 2016-March 2017)

Houston signed Osweiler to a contract worth $37 million guaranteed in March 2016. It traded him with a second-rounder to the Browns in March 2017. The Texans all but swept the postseason “worst free-agent signings” selections. With the Texans, he stayed in the bottom of the league passer ratings (only Ryan Fitzpatrick finished lower than his 72.2) and near the top of the interception rankings (fourth-most, with 16). He was benched late in the '16 season, only to regain the job when Tom Savage got injured, and ended up starting two playoff games. It was a wasted year all around, except for his financial advisers.

Win, Loss or Tie: Tie. The Texans won a bidding war they shouldn’t have gotten into, and they proved that quarterback-needy teams make irrational decisions. They found a way to cut their losses, albeit at a high price. They cleared a path for themselves to draft a legitimate franchise quarterback in Deshaun Watson, but with Watson now out with a torn ACL, the bad Osweiler karma might be more powerful than anticipated.

Broncos, Part 1 (April 2012-March 2016)

Denver drafted Osweiler in the second round, 57th overall, in 2012. It lost him to the Texans in free agency in March 2016. He started those seven games in the fourth and final year of his rookie contract in 2015, and went 5-2, but the Broncos couldn’t wait to get Manning back for the playoff push. Elway was heated when Osweiler signed elsewhere, and Osweiler was salty right back.

Win, Loss or Tie: Loss. Elway still has to carry the stain of once trying to throw a ton of money at him. Even though the Broncos lucked out and didn’t have to pay him, their Plan B hasn't worked out yet. If it had, Osweiler wouldn’t be starting again now. The deal-breaker: Russell Wilson went 18 picks after Osweiler.